Russia Reportedly Using Social Media and Rubles to Recruit Chinese Soldiers

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that Ukrainian authorities have identified 155 Chinese citizens fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine but that there are likely many more.

Zelensky stated that Chinese nationals are fighting as part of the Russian 70th and 71st motorized rifle regiments (both of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division, 58th Combined Arms Army [CAA], Southern Military District [SMD]) and the 255th Motorized Rifle Regiment (20th Motorized Rifle Division, 8th CAA, SMD).

Elements of the 70th and 71st motorized rifle regiments are currently operating in western Zaporizhia region, and elements of the 255th Motorized Rifle Regiment are reportedly operating in the Toretsk area.

Zelensky stated that Russian forces are posting advertisements on TikTok and other Chinese social networks to recruit Chinese citizens and that the Chinese nationals traveled to Moscow, where they underwent medical examinations and one to two months of military training before deploying to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) reported on Wednesday that a Russian representative directly recruited one of the Chinese citizens, whom Ukrainian forces recently captured in Ukraine, in the People’s Republic of China and that the Chinese citizen signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense upon arriving in Moscow in February 2025.

 The SBU reported that another captured Chinese citizen went to Russia for tourism in December 2024 and signed a contract after seeing an internet advertisement offering two million rubles (about $24,000) for joining the Russian military.

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China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday that Beijing is unaware of the more than 155 Chinese citizens fighting with Russian forces in Ukraine.